Bridges
by thesilversun
Summary: On a bridge across the Severn Jack meets Suzie Costello for the first time. Set pre-series one. Jack/Suzie Mention of suicidal themes.


**Title:** Bridges.  
><strong>Characters:<strong> Jack/Suzie  
><strong>Rating:<strong> pg13  
><strong>Contains<strong>: Implied sex, mention of suicidal themes.  
><strong>Summary:<strong> On a bridge across the Severn Jack meets Suzie Costello for the first time.  
><strong>AN:** This was inspired by the song Wonderful Life by Hurts. This isn not a song fic, it contains no lyrics or singing.

* * *

><p>The Severn Bridge sways almost imperceptibly in the gusty late November night. The few vans and cars crossing it do so with the single minded determination of their drivers to get home before late night becomes early morning.<p>

Halfway across on the Bristol bound side, and with no warning to the rest of the traffic, the Torchwood SUV pulls over. Its wheels screech on the damp tarmac as it comes to a sudden halt at the side of the road.

It has barely stopped when Jack gets out of the drivers seat. Without a moments pause, he climbs the barrier separating the main carriageway the from the cycle path, and runs to the railing at the edge of the bridge.

Taking a small metallic cube from the pocket of his greatcoat, he hurls it into the water far below with as much force as he can.

There's a shimmer of golden light as it hits the water, the choppy surface bubbling for a moment until the glow fades, darkness closing in once more.

A grim smile on his face, Jack watches the water below.

He's still staring down at the Severn, his expression becoming more lost and lonely as time passes, when he hears somebody behind him say, "I doubt it's as bad as you think."

Jack looks round to see a woman stood on the barrier between the road and the cycle path. Her dark, curly hair fans out behind her as the wind starts to rise, gusts catching the pale tan trench coat that's belted tightly about her.

Not waiting for him to answer, she climbs down beside him. Leaning against the rail, she looks into the ink dark water below, before casually remarking, "It would be like hitting concrete from this far up. You'd be dead before you had a chance to drown."

There's not even a trace of conviction in Jack's voices as he says wearily, "It's not like I was planning on jumping."

Silence stretches out between them, the wind rising still further as the rain begins to fall, until she suddenly says, "Sometimes I think that I should like to live forever."

Staring out at the night, his eyes old and sad, Jack's voice is with heavy loss as he says, "No, you really wouldn't."

"We only have this one life." She turns to face him, her hand closing over his. "And it's so fleeting, so short. Everything dies in the end."

Jack looks like he's about to speak, then sighs instead. He looks up at the night sky, rain running down his face, the heavy cloud cover overhead tinged orange with light-pollution from Bristol a few miles away.

"As fun as this is," Jack says eventually, running a hand through his rain soaked hair. "I'm going to have to go."

"Everything comes to an end," she says, her voice distance and a little sad.

"It doesn't have too, you know. It's a long way to..." Jack looks around. They are almost at the centre of the bridge, the houses on the banks of Severn on either side are just distant blurs of light thought the worsening weather. "Well just about anywhere really, you want a lift?"

With a lingering glance back at the water, she says, "Alright."

"Do you often get into the cars of people you've just met?" Jack asks, once they've climbed back over the barrier and back onto the main carriageway.

She smiles at him, something fierce just behind her eyes. "Only when I know I'm the one in control."

Jack looks at her, curiosity growing. "What makes you say you are?"

"Because I'm going to be driving." She holds out her hand for the keys.

Amused, Jack grins. "Confident, aren't you?"

She laughs, there's a brittle edge to it. "You get nothing in this life if you aren't."

"Can't argue with that." Taking the keys out of his pocket, Jack throws them to her.

Catching them, she makes her way round to the drivers side. "Aren't you worried? I could be anyone, do anything. I could drive us off this bridge, kill us both."

"But you won't. I like to think I'm a better judge of people than that," Jack says, looking across the bonnet of the SUV at her. "Anyway, I stopped worrying about me years ago."

She laughs again, more genuine this time. "It seems like we have a lot in common then."

The fifteen or so miles into the centre of Bristol passes rapidly, despite the absence of conversation between.

Parking the SUV in a side street opposite Temple Meads railway station, they sit watching people hurry for the last trains of the night, while workers and party goers mingle in the smoking shelters outside.

"Look at them." She waves a hand disparagingly. "They live their tidy little lives pretending that don't see the things in the shadows."

"And you do?" Jack asks intrigued.

"There's so much darkness in the world." She turns to Jack, the city lights reflected in her eyes. "And there's no light but that which we make for ourselves."

"Very poetic."

She smiles faintly, then says, "Are we going to sit here all night?"

"I don't know." Jack leans a little closer to her. "What do you have in mind?"

"If you get out of the car I'll show you." Suzie unfastens her seatbelt, and takes the keys from the ignition. She hands them to Jack and the gets out of the SUV.

Following her out into the rain, Jack says, "What are you going to to show me?"

"How to make that light in the darkness," she says, pushing him against the wall at the side of the SUV, her hands inside his greatcoat.

Surprised, but not unwilling, Jack responds, one hand tangling in her hair, the other low on her back pulling her closer. "I don't even know your name."

"You don't strike me as the kind of man who really cares about that." She laughs, then runs her hands down his chest, stopping only when they reach his belt."But if you really want to know it's Suzie Costello."

"Suzie Costello, I like it," Jack says with a grin. He leans in closer until their lips almost meet. "So why were you on that bridge?"

"Do you really want to know?" she says quietly, threat running just below the surface of the teasing tone.

Jack's eyes meet hers just for a moment, then he slowly shakes his head.

"Good," Suzie whispers against his lips. "We all need our little secrets."

Bodies pressed close together, fingers slipping on wet cloth and buttons, they lose themselves in the darkness and each other as the rain continues to pour down.


End file.
